OTHER OPINION: Allow sports tickets’ resale

Restrictions or outright bans on reselling tickets for live sports and entertainment events have been in place for years in many cities, and particularly around certain venues.
The stated purpose has been to protect fans from ticket scalpers who buy up tickets and resell them, usually at higher prices, although sometimes below the printed value if that’s what the market dictates.
But state Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, believes such rules do more harm to the ticket holders who are not scalpers and who want to sell or give their tickets to someone else.
He has introduced a bill that would prevent original sellers or venues from putting restrictions on the resale of tickets.
The legislation makes exceptions for tickets sold to events whose proceeds “are intended solely to benefit charity” and those issued free …
Oliveira’s logic is simple: “When I had a ticket, I thought I owned it,” he said. And if he owns it, he thinks he ought to be able to do with it as he pleases.
That makes sense.
But several professional sports teams and popular venues, including the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Cowboys and American Airlines Center, are on record opposing the bill.
They argue that the unintended consequences of the legislation would aid scalpers and therefore would be bad for the average fan.
But Oliveira’s property-rights issue is straightforward and clear.
If venues, sports teams, performers or show producers and promoters want to fight organized ticket scalping and exercise control over their events, that’s fine. But they must find ways to do so that do not interfere with the basic property rights of ticket buyers.
Fort Worth Star Telegram